Visions
by Vivid Fox
Summary: Suze has visions of the future when Jesse moves to town. Can she foresee her hot flame with Paul Slater fizzling out, or has he only started to spread the fire? We all know that boy hates to lose. Senior year is looking deliciously wicked.
1. New Breeze

**Hey, so I don't own any of the loverly characters that Meg Cabot thought up of, and the backround storyline.  
But, this story is mine - - hope you enjoy, -Loves It-... Callie.**

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**Visions**

"_Go back to him." He said angrily. I looked up into his deep brown eyes with pain but stood__ still,_

"_It's a wonder," he said scoffing, realizing I wasn't going to leave, "You said you didn't cheat yet you ran back to him so fast when we were done. So ready to meet his welcoming arms, as if we never existed together." I wanted to cry, I looked down at the ground. _

"_Go back to him." He said with anger, "Go fuck him, you're his whore." I looked up at him in shock. _

"_Jesse" I breathed, with tears in my eyes._

_---------_

It had all started with a new breeze. A strong wind, the Santa Ana perhaps. The Santa Ana is a wind that blows from the desert, local myths attached. But what it truly meant was; anything could happen.

I had walked out of my house early in the morning, late September, and a breeze blew making the fallen leaves dance in the air. The leaves weren't the oranges and yellows that one would see in New York, where I had previously lived a few years ago. No, these were green like the rest of California, but fall was still chillier than the warm summer that had just passed – and fall had finally come.

I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary that day, it was still pretty early but soon my step-brothers would be wakening up and we would go off to school, and then me and my best friends Ceecee and Adam would probably go hang out at the Coffee Clutch or by the beach.

But, unexpectedly a fierce wind hit me as I stepped out the front door, taking Max for an early walk. I was caught off balance and let go of the leash.

Bad move.

Max ran, like any curious dog free from restraint.

"Max!" I yelled after him but something had caught his eye and he ran down our gravel driveway off into the dirt road. "Shit" I muttered under my breathe. I quickly ran after Max, hoping he wasn't going to go very far.

Why had I taken the dog with me? I always got up and jogged in the morning; it was relaxing and kept me in good shape. I usually never took the dog but Andy thought it would be a good idea to give him some exercise. Good idea? Not.

I heard barking and ran quicker, seeing Max with another dog.

"Max!" I said harshly, "Bad boy… making me come after you like this…" I grumbled irritably. The other dog was a big dog too, looked like a German Shepherd mix of some sort.

"Tobey!" I heard a male voice call. The wind picked up again, making my dark hair cover my face. I brushed it away with my hand and saw one of the most gorgeous boys I have ever seen. He jogged up to me and the dogs, a smile on his handsome face.

"Sorry about this," he said, "I let go of the leash accidentally." I took in his features once he got close. He was tall, had dark crisp hair and deep brown eyes that would melt anyone's heart. He was tanned and by the look of him, definitely in shape. He looked like he might have had some sort of Mexican or Latin descent even…

"Hello?" he asked bringing me back to reality. Oh God, why am I even thinking about this, I have a boyfriend – but that doesn't mean I can't find other guys attractive I mean I'm sure _he_ does find other girls-

"Hey," I said with a bit of embarrassment, "Yeah, I let go of the leash too… wind caught me off guard and I stumbled…" I said with a pathetic smile. I looked down at my running shoes, jogging shorts and old t-shirt. I felt like such an idiot,

"Yes, it is pretty strong." He said smiling warmly. "I come from southern California and though there is a nice breeze, it's usually pretty calm."

"Oh, you're new to this area?" I asked.

"Yes, my family and I just moved here only two weeks ago. I'm going to start school later today, senior year."

"Me too." I said, "Well, I mean, not _start_ school because it already started, but I'll be there….. today." I was sounding lamer and lamer every second.

"Do you go to the Junipero Serra Mission"?

"Yeah," I said, "It's a pain in the ass sometimes but the principle is pretty cool and I guess the school it's self is nice." He laughed,

"Well, I'll be going there so I hope everyone is as charming as you are." I blushed in spite of myself, "I'm Jesse. Jesse de Silva." He said putting out a hand to shake. I shook his hand, smiling,

"Suze Simon."

"Short for Susannah?" he asked.

"Yes. But everyone calls me Suze." We stood smiling at each other until suddenly Max lurched out of my hands and I stumbled forward, but I grabbed the leash before he could run off.

"_Jesus_…" I said embarrassed. But Jesse laughed warmly, "Um, I should be going back… I need to get ready for school."

"Me too." He answered, "I live about a twenty-five minute walk from here by the way." He added.

"Right." I said, "So, I guess I'll see you later then?" I asked.

"Yes, I'll be touring the school later and signing papers with the principle today." He said, "See you around Susannah." He said walking off. I wanted to tell him not to call me Susannah, only my Mom was allowed, but instead I called back,

"See you, Jesse… and Tobey." I said with a laugh and quickly ran off with Max, silently thanking the wind for helping me meet Jesse de Silva.

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Paul Slater pushed me up against the Misson's back wall. He kissed my neck slowly; my hands were entwined in his dark blonde locks. He touched his lips to mine and my whole world blurred.

Who was that guy I was talking to earlier? And _why_ was I so intrigued by him. Yes, he was very good looking but Paul was just as handsome… and sexy… and-

I pushed him off me a bit, panting in spite of the chilly day.

"Paul…" I said in playful warning. He sighed but with a smile, his piercing blue eyes searching mine.

"Alright Suze but it's hard to resist you, you know?" I laughed and we held hands, walking back to the main courtyard. I had meet Paul at the Pebble Beach resort a little over a year ago. He was gorgeous, charming, and cocky but it only sexed up his appeal more. He moved in with his rich Grandpa and came to my school and in a few weeks we started going out. It seemed strange to me that out of all the Kellys and Debbies there were around that he would pick me. He constantly told me that I was more beautiful than them and had brains too.

But we also connected on a much higher level, on the level that allows you to see ghosts. Yes, both of us were mediators… or even more, shifters. He taught me some amazing things in the past few months even if he was a little pushy and expected things in return. Things he couldn't quite get yet,

"There is a party Friday night, at Holly's house." He said as we walked together towards History class that would start soon.

"Yeah, sounds fun." I said thinking about other things. Paul stopped walking and gently pushed me back into one of the many pillars.

"We could make the night really special." He said smiling, kissing me softly on the lips. I made a noise of pleasure and agreement into his lips. He put his hand on the hem of my denim pants,

"You know?" he said looking into my green eyes. I looked right back into his blue ones… I wanted to completely trust him… I did, didn't I? Then why was it so hard to say yes?

I wanted to, believe me there had been plenty of close calls. But something held me back… I wasn't even sure what, I mean Paul was a great boyfriend, and any girl would cut off their arm to be with him let alone sleep with him. Err, that's extreme but I'm sure Debbie would. I smiled weakly and nodded,

"Yeah." I breathed out nervously. I was a virgin, and Paul was definitely not. I never really wanted to ask him when he first lost it or how many girls he has been with, I really don't, but regardless he was experienced. I didn't feel bad, I was only seventeen, but still, I felt bad for keeping him at bay, I shouldn't but I did. He looked so genuine and we had been going out a pretty long time… I gave in. "Yeah, alright, Friday." I said with a smile. He beamed,

"You make me so happy Suze Simon!" he said lifting me up in the air and twirling me around, I laughed. I touched the ground and he kissed me deeply, I kissed back.

"We, mmmph, and going to, mmmm, be late!" I breathed, laughing.

"Who cares?" He said sexily, deepening the kiss. The bell shattered and I looked towards it, seeing Jesse de Silva walking with Father Dominic only a few feet away. Great… so I'm caught making out in front of an old priest and I'm embarrassed to see Jesse like this, **oh,** and on top of that; I'm late for class.

"Ahem." Father Dom coughed, his eyebrows raised.

"H-hi." I said embarrassed, shoving Paul away quickly. Paul smiled charmingly,

"Sorry Father D., couldn't help myself." I looked at him and glared, **not **helping the situation. "We'll be going to class now." He added.

"Good to see you again Susannah." Jesse said with a small smile of amusement on his lips. I was forced to look at him,

"You too." I said quietly, totally embarrassed. Paul looked quizzically at us, Jesse filled him in,

"We live nearby, I met Susannah this morning."

"Yes, well, _Suze_ is quite the friendly gal." Paul said kissing my cheek.

"When you said getting to class 'now', I assumed you would be getting to class now?" Father Dominic asked sternly but with a smile.

"Okay, okay." I said putting my hands up in surrender. "We're going; just don't tell the big guy above about our horrible deeds of missing class." I said with a laugh. Father Dom rolled his pale blue eyes,

"Let's continue our tour Mr. de Silva." he said.

"Nice to see you again Susannah, and you…?" Jesse asked,

"Paul. Paul Slater." Paul said nodding his head coolly.

"Yes, well, see you later then." Jesse said as he and Father Dominic walked off.

"We should go to class now." I said tugging on Paul's hand.

"Yeah…" Paul said looking back to me, "Let's go." This already wasn't a good start; I should have taken it as a sign.

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Ceecee, Adam and I sat down at the Coffee Clutch after school chatting about well, everything and nothing.

"So THEN I shot this huuuuge spit ball towards Mark Figalo, you know him right?" Adam was saying animatedly.

"Yeah, jock guy right? He plays football with Brad." I said.

"Yeah, him. Total asshole. Anyways, so the spit ball was huuuge and hit him right in the ear! It was totally sick!" Adam said laughing.

"He is probably going to kick your ass tomorrow." Ceecee said rolling her lavender eyes.

"Well… maybe. But I don't think he knew it was me, the guy is pretty dumb. Plus he will get detention." Adam said, reassuring himself. I laughed, Adam was such a dork, but in a cute way.

"Speaking of detention, if you come to class late anymore Suze, I'm sure you'll end up there." Ceecee said raising her eyebrows playfully.

"I know, I know." I grumbled. "I was, um, distracted."

"Meaning Hottie McNaughty held you captive?" she said. I burst out laughing, my blueberry frappuccino dribbling down my chin a little. I took and napkin and swiped it away,

"Hottie McNaughty?" I asked in amusement.

"That's what many of the girls have started calling him." Ceecee said rolling her eyes. Adam snorted,

"I should have a nickname. Like… The-Love-Of-Everyone's-Life-Boy… or something."

"Riiight." Ceecee said but blushed.

"More like, Wears-His-Shirt-Inside-Out-Boy." I said laughing.

"That was ONE time!" Adam yelled. We all laughed along, and the familiar 'ding' of the bell above the Clutch's door rang. I looked over and Jesse de Silva walked in.

"Hey, I know him. He's new to our school." I said. Ceecee and Adam looked over.

"Wow." Ceecee said. Adam rolled his eyes,

"We really don't need another tan, muscle-building jerk for the female population to drool over."

"He isn't a jerk." I piped up, waving at him. He smiled and waved back, walking over. He sat in the empty seat beside Adam.

"Hello, I have seen you everywhere today, Susannah." He said smiling. Ceecee looked skeptic, he just called me 'Susannah.'

"_Suze_." I pressed. "Anyways, this is Ceecee and Adam."

"Royal best friends and protectors of one, Suze Simon." Adam said shaking Jesse's hand animatedly. Jesse laughed.

"Nice to meet you two."

"At first we thought you might be a water polo playing jerk." Adam said. Ceecee rolled her eyes,

"Please don't listen to him. He has no concept of manners." She said and we laughed.

"No, I do not play water polo. A bit of riding when I can, some football too." He said.

He told us about the ranch he used to live on, about his old school. And we told him a little about our lives… then for the next two hours, we all told about ourselves and he told about himself, and it felt like we had known each other for years.

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Jesse asked if he could drive me home. Adam was going to drive Ceecee and me home but since Jesse only lived twenty minutes away, I decided it would be quicker and easier on Adam. We drove casually, listening to the radio, chatting along.

"Oh, so, sorry about today." I said with a small blush.

"Why is that _querida_?" …Keerida what now?

"Keer… what?" I asked. Jesse smiled,

"What about today?" I looked at him but he drove on, with a smile on his lips. Knowing he wasn't going to say anything about that 'keer' word, I continued with a sigh,

"I don't know. Me… and Paul. It's a little embarrassing."

"It is fine to be kissing one's boyfriend." He stated simply.

"I _know_ but I mean… never mind then." I said rolling my eyes, looking out the window. Jesse laughed,

"Don't feel embarrassed." He said and I smiled weakly at him. Why **did** I feel embarrassed? I shook my head. Soon (after some directions from me) we made it to my house. Jesse parked the car (a Land Rover) and turned to me,

"Well, have a good night _querida_." He said.

"What does that word mean? Keer…ida…?" I asked.

"Querida." Jesse said laughing. "Nothing really." He said smiling warmly.

"Fine." I huffed folding my arms over my chest.

"Do you want me to walk you to the door?" Jesse asked.

"No," I laughed, "It's fine. Oh, but the way; there is this party of Friday night. At this girl, a friend of mine, sort of, well – at her house. Did you want to come?" I asked. "You don't know many people other than me… and well, Ceecee and Adam so this is a good chance to meet people. You'll find out that people are a lot different than us three." I said.

"Well, I do enjoy your three's company… but I would like to go. You'll be there?" he asked.

"Yes, Paul and I will be. And Cee and Adam too… I need to tell them about it though." I said laughing.

"Okay, I'll go, I haven't been to a party in a long time it seems." He said thoughtfully.

"You'll be surprised then."

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We walked through the glass doors into Holly's big mansion on Friday night, noise hitting our ears, scandaly clad people hitting out eyes and alcohol hitting our noses. Jesse had driven me there, as Paul had detention (too many lates… oops.) and had come later by himself. We walked in, instantly taking in the loud noise of whatever latest hit song was playing, girls dressed in bikinis and short skirts, guys dancing with them as close as they could get, everyone sipping on tequila or beer.

Jesse certainly looked surprised.

Probably different from the parties on the ranch. You know, dancing around hay bales and such, daring each other to tip cows. That's probably what happens… anyways,

I walked in, getting hugs from various people, some already smashed. Paul slid across the room up to me,

"Hey babe!" he shouted above the music, kissing me on the lips. I could taste alcohol.

"Hey." I said back, holding his hand. He looked amazing just wearing simple black jeans and a dark blue dress shirt. He looked me up and down,

"You look hot." He said laughing a little drunkenly. I was wearing a short black mini skirt, with a dark green top that hugged me.

"Thanks." I said as he handed me a cup of whatever.

"Drink up me lady, yo ho!" he yelled in a pirate swagger. I joined people in the kitchen for shots. Paul had gone off somewhere already; he could never stay in one place for too long. I looked back towards the doors, Adam and Ceecee had arrived looking very out of place.

"_Suze, they probably don't want us there…" she said over the phone. _

"_Of course they do!" I answered back. "We've been many times!"_

"_**You've**__ been many times, Suze." Cee said. "They like __**you**__. You're gorgeous and going out with the most popular guy in school. You fit in with them." I scoffed,_

"_I certainly do not."_

"_Maybe on the outside, I meant." Ceecee said. _

"_Whatever Cee, you have fun at these things and they don't care if you come. You don't have a choice, you're coming." I said jokingly._

"_Fiiiine." She answered. _

"_Just make sure Adam doesn't were his 'Alien' t-shirt." I said with a grimace._

"_I don't dress him." Ceecee said; I heard her embarrassment through the phone._

"_Right." I said laughing. _

I ran up to them,

"Hey!" I said happily. They looked relieved to see me. Jesse was nearby talking to some guys, whilst many girls stood nearby, practically drooling. I rolled my eyes,

"He fits in nicely." I said. Ceecee and Adam followed me back into the kitchen. Paul came up, one of his friends messing up his hair with his hand. Paul shoved him away, more playfully than mean.

"Screw off!" he said. He came up to me, putting his arms around my shoulders, hugging me and kissing my neck from behind.

"I want you." He said loudly in my ear. I blushed and pushed him away, leading him away from Adam and Ceecee.

"Yes?" I asked looking slightly annoyed.

"You need more alcohol!" He said giving me a shot of tequila. Oh hell, I swung it down.

"Good girl." He said, kissing me hard.

Most of the night was sort of a blur. A mixture of shots, cheering with people, and dancing my ass off. Suddenly in the middle of dancing crazily, Paul grabbed my face and kissed me, with need.

"Let's go." He whispered. He took my hand and was leading me away. I tripped forward, stumbling to the ground. A set of different hands were picking me up,

"Are you alright Susannah?" they asked. I looked up dizzily at Jesse.

"_Heeheeee_." I laughed drunkily.

"Maybe you need to sit down?" he offered, concern in his voice.

"Maybe she needs to come with me." I heard Paul say, in an annoyed voice. He tugged me into his arms, leading us up the stairs of the house.

"I do not meant to butt in but you are both quite drunk and-"

"And what?" Paul snorted.

"Paul…" I said. I wanted to tell him to stop being mean. But instead I grabbed onto his shirt for balance, breathing in his cologne.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude…" Jesse said,

"That's right, **don't**." Paul said rudely, taking me away from the swim of faces, away from Jesse and up the stairs.

We barged into a room to find some sort of threesome going on.

"Shit, sorry." Paul said laughing, closing the door and finding a different room. I laughed hysterically. Paul smiled, kissing me deeply. We stood in the hall kissing passionately until I was too dizzy.

He found us a room and closed the door behind him. Suddenly I found myself being pushed into a mattress on the bed. We kissed; he kissed heavily, greedy for more. His hand slid up my thigh, making me hot. He toyed with my skirt, soon pulling it off.

I pulled his shirt over his head, smiling drunkenly at his godly body. My hand slid down his lean abs and lower into his jeans, he gave an appreciated **groan**. Soon my shirt was gone and we fooled around like we always did until we both ended up, naked in bed except for my underwear. He suddenly leaned down off the bed and was getting something out of his jeans pocket. I heard a crinkle and knew it was a condom wrapper. I suddenly felt really nervous. We had done everything _but_. I mean, why not? I certainly trusted him enough.

But did I love him? Oh…

Suddenly everything felt too dizzy to handle. I… I wasn't even sure if I loved him. Why didn't I? **Why? **We had said, 'love you' many of times but did I _really_ mean 'I love you?' Uncertain about my feelings, I sat up, alarmed. He came back and kissed my neck, massaging me. But I pushed him away,

"No." I said. He pretended like he didn't hear me and ripped open the condom package.

"Paul." I said, getting his attention.

"Yeah?" He asked, looking into my eyes, his full of lust, mine of uncertainty.

"I… I can't" I managed to spit out.

"What?" he demanded.

"I can't do this with you."

"With _who_ then?" he said with disbelief.

"No, that's not what I meant. I mean… I'm just not ready right now."

"You're kidding me right?" He asked, his face stony.

"N-no." I said, pulling the covers up over my chest. Paul looked still, then angry.

"Are you fucking joking? Then _when_ will you be ready Simon?!" he yelled. I flinched a little.

"I don't know. Soon." I said, trying to give him some hope, though I honestly didn't know. "Just not know." Paul looked like he was trying to control his anger. He knew it didn't matter what he would say or do, it wasn't going to happen tonight. He got up and pulled his boxers on, and his pants. He sat on the end of the bed and ran his fingers through his hair, annoyed.

"I'm sorry…" I said, sounding sad and small. He didn't say anything, putting his shirt back on. He took a joint out of his pant's pocket and held it in his fingers.

"I'm going to go smoke this downstairs with Anderson and Mike." He said.

"Yeah, okay." I said and he left. I hugged myself, alone in the dark room. Tears slid down my face, why did I feel so bad? I quickly got dressed and stumbled out the room, coming downstairs and back into the party. I knew I looked like a mess; my hair was probably everywhere, my makeup all over my face from crying.

"Are you okay?" I heard Ceecee ask beside me.

"I'm ok." I lied, drinking as much as a could for the next hour, until blacking out.

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**Alrighty, well hope you liked it - - more mediator stuff comming up in further chapters (of course) - - give me a review so I know how I'm doing to continue the story!**

**Loves it, **

**Callie.**


	2. The Morning is always Worst

**Hey, I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter to 'Visions.' I'll try to update when I can, thanks so much for the reviews, they inspire me to keep working and they keep me happy, haha. Don't worry, the story will get mediator-ish. new word. Well, hope you enjoy it, review if you can please :)**

**Callie (-Loves It-) **

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Never again. Never, ever, ever, EVER again! Isn't this what I always told myself the next morning? Oh god… I felt like crap. No, crap felt better then me. I weakly opened my eyes and took in my surroundings; I was in Ceecee's room. Her lavender walls and white bed – the same thing she had when she was little, always said she wanted to change it. Deep down I think she still loved it. I groaned, placing a hand to my head.

"Holy…" I said; hangovers are NOT fun. I was all tangled in Cee's white and dark purple sheets, my clothes still the same from the party last night. Cee's door gently opened and she came in, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, holding a cup of orange juice and a plate with a warm bagel on it.

"Ah, she awakes!" she said with a smile. I groaned in response. "Get uuup!" she said shoving me a little.

"No!" I said in a child-like voice. Cee waved the bagel under my nose.

"Not even for yummy breakfast?" she asked. The smell awoke my senses a little, my stomach growling. "Aha! Your stomach betrays you, now get up! It's almost 12." I got up slowly, sitting on her bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I grabbed the bagel, glaring at her and munched on it greedily.

"Your welcome." She said smiling, sitting on a small, dark purple comfy chair.

"Thanks." I said with a mouthful. Ceecee laughed,

"You look like hell." She said,

"I feel like it." I answered back miserably. "What happened anyways?"

"Before or after you puked your guts out?" She said with slight disgust.

"I WHAT?" I said chocking on bagel, washing it down with orange juice.

"Well I found you all upset over something, throwing back drinks like no other, I _tried_ to stop you by the way, and you basically passed out on Holly's deck." She said. I flushed with embarrassment,

"No… this is _so _embarrassing…" I mumbled weakly.

"Whatever, everyone was so messed up - you didn't look half bad." She said laughing a little.

"What about after that? You said I puked?"

"Oh yeah, so me and Jesse got you up and he carried you to my car, then you woke up and decided to throw up."

"Jesse was there!?" I panicked. "Oh.My.God! He knows me for like, two days and he must already think I'm mental!" I said dramatically, "And I puked all over him!"

"No you didn't, you made it to a bush in time." Ceecee said, "I'm sure he doesn't think you're all that crazy." She added trying to make me feel better. "Oh! Plus, Adam got completely drunk and fell face first into a coffee table, shattering it." she said laughing, I laughed along hysterically.

"No way!" I said, "God, he is so funny. He must regret that."

"I'm sure he felt proud, ruining another OC character wannabe's possessions is a prize to him." She said with a grin. I smiled, thinking about last night – soon frowning.

"I'm an idiot. A big, IDIOT." I said tossing around in the sheets, feeling sick all over again.

"Er… sure." Ceecee said laughing. We looked at each other, in spite of a wild night turning out to suck, it was_ kinda_ funny.

"So… what happened?" she asked.

"Hmmm?" I said, stretching myself.

"Well, when I found you, in your mental state, you had been crying." She said.

"Oh. Oh, yeah." I said sighing, looking glum. "Just… Paul stuff." I said looking at her sadly.

"Oh, okay." She said, not wanting to be nosy and pry for more. But as a friend I knew she wanted to hear it,

"He just… god, he just… I don't know. Expects us to _always_ be having sex or something." I said.

"…Have you?" she asked.

"I would have told you!" I said, throwing a pillow at her head. She laughed, catching it and throwing it back.

"Not to seem like Kelly or something but… is there really anything wrong about having sex with _Paul Slater_?" she asked.

"No, I mean… I want to, like, I do. There are times where we are _so_ close, and I want him _so_ bad. But… something always holds me back. And, he got all mad about it and stormed off and whatever, I was drinking so my emotions were a little messed, and I started crying and-"

"It's okay." Ceecee said, "I get it. I mean, I don't because it doesn't happen to _me_, but… you don't need to explain more if you don't feel like it." she said.

"Yeah. I don't know. I'm so ready. I think. But… why?" I moaned and threw her pillow at the ceiling. "No wonder he was so angry, it must be killing him." I said.

"But he should be patient for you." Cee said.

"I guess so." I nodded. "Whatever, I'll call him later." I said shrugging. "Now I need to go home and shower and… sleep."

--

I got home and quickly ran up the stairs hoping to run into no one as I took cover to my room. Unfortunately I ran into Dopey on the way,

"Niceeee." He said with a mean laugh at me, looking at my wrecked appearance.

"Fuck off." I growled, making my way past him.

"At Slater's _all_ night?" he asked. I glared at him,

"No, but at least I'm not hoping to be at Kelly's _all_ night. Maybe if you wish **real** hard, and just _believe_; it could happen!" I said. Brad glared at me,

"Hardy, har, har." He said sulking back to his room. Satisfied, I went to my room, and took a long shower – then a longer nap.

I woke up; the time was 4:36pm on my little clock beside my bed. It definitely felt much better to be well rested and in clean clothes. I grabbed my black cell phone from my night table, checking any missed calls or messages. I had one from Ceecee, just checking how I was. Another from Adam – all it was on the message was one big groan, probably suffering from a hangover too. None from Paul.

I snapped my phone shut, annoyed. Fine whatever.

I got up and dressed in a loose shirt and cropped brown stretch pants, comfy.

I walked downstairs into the kitchen; Andy and mom were sitting in the living room, reading newspapers together.

"Hey." I said walking by.

"Susannah. Nice of you to get up." My mom said looking stern.

"I slept over at Cee's; I told you I was going to!" I said. "I got home early and took a nap."

"Mmmhmm." My mom said eyeing me.

"Dinner is going to be ready by 6." Andy said smiling at me, looking back to his paper.

It always was.

"I'm going to walk to the beach to hang a bit." I said to them, it was a five minute walk away.

"Alright sweetie, but be home for dinner. Sharp." She said. I rolled my eyes playfully, the beach sounded very tempting especially at this time of the day when it was cooling down.

I brought my cell along with me, in case of anything or if anyone was going to call. After a short walk I plopped my butt in the sand and gazed at the beautiful ocean. Nothing could compare to it, the beautiful scene everyday. What a romantic scene it was too. I decided to call Paul on that note,

"Pick up…" I said to myself as the phone rang. He picked up before it went to a message,

"Yeah?" he asked lazily.

"H-hey." I said. "It's me. Suze."

"Hey." He said.

"Um, so, what are you doing?" I asked sort of awkwardly. The last time we saw each other, I had denied him once again and he walked off angrily, leaving me crying.

"Not much." He said yawning, "Woke up shit faced, and I've pretty much been recovering."

"Me too. Well, I was." I said. "Um, so, do you want to do something tonight?" I asked. "You could come for dinner or something, I'm sure Andy wouldn't mind making a little more food." I said lamely.

"Yeah, sounds great and all but I'm not really up for it." he answered. I sat in silent, listening to him. What the hell?

"Um… kay." I said, the wind blowing my hair around my face, "Well…"

"I got to go Suze. I'm really tired right now, and I have stuff to do." He said suddenly, in slight annoyance.

"Right." I answered glaring out at the now orange sky. "Like smoking a joint or going out again with the guys?" I asked bitterly, knowing I was being a bitch.

"Yeah." He answered plainly.

"Sounds fun." I said, "Well, I won't keep you then."

"Sure you won't." he said with an intended double meaning. I held the phone to my ear in silence.

"Ok… well, bye?" I said.

"Bye." He answered.

"Love you-" I said out of habit but he already hung up.

"Dammit!" I cursed, throwing the phone down beside me. A tear slid down my cheek involuntarily, what the hell was his problem? My cell rung again, I picked it up angrily.

"If you're trying to apologize for being a dick, then apology _not _accepted." I said childishly.

"Um, Susannah?" A Spanish accented male asked.

"Shit. I-I mean, _Jesse_, heeeey!" I said smacking myself in the forehead. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"Well, no. It's me." He said in amusement.

"How did you get my number?" I asked.

"Ceecee gave it to me last night… after, I uh, carried you to her car." He said awkwardly. My stomach churned. "Sorry to be a bother or anything, I was just wondering how you were doing. You were… sick. Are you okay?"

"Yeah! Perfect!" I lied brightly.

"Alright then _querida._" He said. I smiled. '_Querida._' Whatever it meant, it was cute. Of course he could have easily had been calling me '_crazy lady_' or something, I mean, I _did_ appear mental in the times he had seen me. Wait, crazy was 'loco' right? Maybe it meant _slut_ or something, I mean he sees me making out with Paul and then all drunk and horrible. It could easily mean that. He's all, '_alright then you giant slut bag_', and I'd never know!

"Susannah?" he asked, breaking me from my zone and ramblings in my head.

"Hey, still here, sorry." I said. "I'm watching the sun set." I said looking out at the horizon.

"Me too." He said. I looked around panicked, he was _here_! STALKER!

"I can see it from my window, it is very nice." He said taking it in. Oh, never mind, I'm the only crazy one around still.

"Yeah." I answered, and we both stayed on the phone watching the sun - not in an awkward silence but a shared happiness.

--

I looked in the mirror, wearing my new dark skinny jeans and a dark blue spaghetti strap top, getting ready for school. I slipped on some brown metallic flats, fluffed my dark chestnut hair once and walked out my room, snatching my cell phone on the way.

Paul hadn't called all weekend since we last talked, when I was on the beach. I wasn't the jealous, needy girlfriend type but it was kind of annoying. I had at least tried to keep my mind from him. Ceecee, Adam and I went to the beach on Sunday for the whole day – my tan had definitely deepened, and the sunshine felt great. I had called Paul to see if he wanted to come but he never answered.

We all later went out for ice-cream and I called Jesse to come, it was fun but I wished Paul had come too. I got in our jeep, Brad at the wheel and David in the backseat. We drove to school, Brad and David fighting over whatever, I usually intervened which got Brad mad at me, pretty much an everyday occurrence.

At school I met up with Cee and Adam, talking about the happenings of this weekend. I craned my neck around, looking for Paul. I saw him over by a table in the open courtyard talking to some friends. He looked his usual gorgeous, his blondish hair slightly curled, laughing with perfectly white teeth. I told Cee and Adam that I'd be back, and strode up to him.

"Hey." I said, touching his arm.

"Hey, Suze." He answered, smiling but his light blue eyes were cold.

"Oh my god, Susie!" Kelly said giddily, "Fri night was _so_ much fun, huh? I'm trying to convince Holly to do another party at her house; it's **such** a good party house." Kelly said.

"Yeah." I said smiling weakly at her, sometimes she was _way_ too hyper in the mornings for the average person.

"I can't believe you totally passed out too!" she shrieked with laughter. A few others laughed in too,

"Not the only one." A guy named Derek said; which was probably way too true.

"And that guy had to help you… what's his name? Jesse? Whatever, I saw him picking you up, poor you!" Kelly said, pouting dramatically. Paul's body stiffened and I looked down at the ground embarrassedly. I liked these people, but they _were_ more of Paul's friends than mine. They could be so annoying sometimes, like Kelly was now.

"Ooh," Debbie sang, pretty much the dumbest and most annoying person I knew, "I wouldn't mind if that Latino hunk picked _me_ up any day!" Many of the girls giggled in agreement.

"He won't." Holly said snidely and the girls laughed again.

"Shut up Hol, you totally don't know that. Whatever." Debbie said, flicking her curly brown hair back.

"Pu-lease, you've been lusting after Brad for-_ever_ and nothing ever happens with you two." Holly shot back.

"Only 'cause you're with him every night, right Hol?" a guy named Anthony said laughing, the other guys 'ooOOoo'ing. Kelly smiled, but looked pissed.

"She wishes." She said, giving a queen bee smirk. Oh my god, I had enough of this. First of all, this whole conversation was stupid and superficial and second, they were starting to talk about _Brad_. I looked over at Cee and Adam who were talking at another table, I never should have left them to come over here, and Paul wasn't even talking to me anyways.

"Did you want to go?" Paul said to me. Oh, so he was.

"Yeah, definitely." I said smiling; he always knew when I was in an uncomfortable position. We walked down the courtyard, stopping by the school's garden path.

"So where were you this weekend?" I asked him casually.

"I don't know. Busy with the guys and stuff." He said shrugging his shoulders. I remained silent, slightly annoyed. He kissed me on the cheek suddenly,

"You smell good." He said, and I smiled in spite of myself. Being mad at him was hard.

"Let's do something later." He said, smiling at me now. I smiled back,

"Kay." We leaned in and kissed for a long moment. I breathed in his sexy cologne and sighed into his neck.

"I missed you." I said, holding him close. He kissed me again quickly,

"Yeah. So let's go out to coffee or something okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, that sounds great." I enthused. We walked back to the main school area hand in hand; the class bell was going to go soon. Jesse came walking by, with Ceecee and Adam, laughing.

"Hello Susannah!" he said cheerfully. "How are you doing?"

"Great." I said, "Trying not to be late for class again." I laughed.

"That's probably a good idea. Adam and I are going to be late for our geography class soon." Adam rolled his eyes,

"The old bag can wait, we always wait and listen to her hour long stories about life in the prairie." He said and Ceecee hit him in the arm. We laughed,

"I owe you for ice cream yesterday Susannah, that was much appreciated." He said, a handsome smile on his face. Paul's hand tensed in mine,

"It was nothing; I had a twenty on me." I said quickly, "We have to go, see you guy's later!" I called, walking away with Paul.

"Why do you want to hang with that guy?" Paul asked rudely.

"Um, because he is really nice and new here. Why not?" I answered confused by the jealously in his voice.

"I guess." He said, dropping my hand.

"Someone _else_ was once new around here, and who took him in?" I said sweetly, kissing him on the mouth slowly. Paul smiled,

"You are such a nerd." He said kissing me, "But you don't have to help all the newbies."

"Whatever." I said, but was happy that we at least weren't mad at each other, for now.

--

I did get detention for being late. For a different class. So I had to spend an hour after school in detention, pretty much dieing, it was so boring. The supervision teacher let us out and I called Paul the second I was out the door.

"Hey, how was detention?" he asked in amusement.

"Ugh. Shitty." I said.

"Okay, well let's make your day better and meet at the Coffee Clutch in a few minutes?"

"Sounds great, so I'll see you!" I said, clamping my phone shut and walking towards the parking lot. Shit, I forgot to ask Paul to pick me up, I had no ride. My phone was out of service now – going to use the office phone. I walked towards the office, the trees blowing peacefully around me.

WHAM

A girl suddenly appeared directly in front of me. Her pale face was expressionless and morbid, her tattered clothing was ripped and dirty. I stumbled backwards in shock, gasping.

"Oh my god." I said, composing myself, "You scared me."

"I suppose that's a plus to being a ghost, huh?" she said, her lips twisted in a smirk.

"Yeah, I guess." I agreed, looking about to make sure no one was around. I looked the girl up and down, her long blonde hair was nicely cut, her brown eyes were skeptical but with a sadness in them. Her pale skin glowed in the daylight; she looked a little younger than me.

"So… did you want to tell me something? I'm sort of in a rush…" I said awkwardly.

She frowned,

"I thought you mediators were supposed to be helpful." She said.

"Yes, but we do have a life." I said with a smile. She rolled her eyes,

"Look. I'm dead. Can it get worse than this?"

"Um…" I said. Quite frankly, yes, it could. I shuddered thinking of the tortures ghosts could go through, some of the things Paul knew about that I didn't even want to know.

"Why don't you tell me about it later? I can help you with anything but I just need to go-" I said cautiously. She glared, and the wind picked up steadily.

"I said I'm dead. I need help. You're a mediator, you're supposed to help me."

"Fine." I sighed, sitting down on a courtyard bench, "Tell me about it." I said with a weary smile. She smiled gleefully and plopped herself down on the bench with me,

"It all began with my murder…" she said, her brown eyes growing large and watering. I almost laughed a little, this sounded like a ghost story. Literally.

"That's not uncommon." I said, and she looked deflated, "Do you know who might have done this to you? Or how?" She smiled big,

"I know exactly who and how and I know he is still out there. Waiting. For his next victim!" she said, floating up into the air.

"Well… would you mind telling me? This is kind of important."

"It's important to you now, huh?" She said, floating in dizzy circles.

"Yes, I mean, if the killer is still out there… it's dangerous." I said.

"Not for me! Not anymore." She shrieked in laughter and disappeared into the air. I stared at the spot she disappeared at, in small shock.

Suddenly she appeared behind me, whispering in my ear.

"Boo! You're next." And then before I could whip around, she dematerialized.

A chill ran up my body and I shuddered. I did not like the sound of that.

"Susannah?" I heard and I turned around to see Jesse de Silva standing nearby, looking at me curiously. I hoped that he didn't hear me talking… to, no one, by his eyes. I would look even more insane than he probably thought I was.

"I…" I said, collecting myself after such a weird encounter. "Um, hey. I just got out of detention. What are you still doing at school?"

"I was talking to Father Dominic. We were just finalizing some school things." He said smiling warmly. I gazed at his sweet smile happily; my afternoon didn't feel so cold suddenly.

"Do you have a ride home?" he asked kindly.

"Um, no actually. My cell phone is out service, I was going to use the office's phone."

"Would you like me to drive you?" he asked, his dark eyes warm.

"Yeah, that'd be really great, thanks." I said, thankful that he was here.

We got to his car and he drove off,

"How was detention?" he teased.

"Oh, a blast. I hope to get one every afternoon." I said, rolling my eyes. He chuckled softly,

"I didn't think of you as a trouble maker, _querida_." I smiled,

"Ooh, I'm bad. Don't hang with me, de Silva; you don't want to end up in detention too."

"I wouldn't mind it." he said, and I blushed involuntarily. My phone vibrated in my pocket, I guess I had service now. I took it out and looked at it, I had new texts:

"**Where are you Suze**?"

"**Are you okay? It's been a while…"**

"**I'm leaving. Where the hell are you?**"… I didn't check the rest.

"Oh no…" I groaned. I had forgotten all about meeting up with Paul.

"What's wrong?"

"I was supposed to meet Paul…" I said.

"Do you want me to drive you to his house?" Jesse asked.

"No… I'll call him later." I said, not really wanting to meet the wrath of Paul Slater, face to face. Jesse and I chatted easily until we got my house,

"Thanks," I smiled, "For the ride and all." I said.

"No problem Susannah." Jesse replied and we smiled at each other, for too long.

"Um, so, yeah." I said, stumbling out of the car, "See you tomorrow then."

"Yes, see you tomorrow." He said, and drove off once I got inside my house. I shut the door and smiled to myself. He made me feel so giddy, it was embarrassing.

"Where were you?" Jake asked, as I walked in the kitchen.

"Detention." I said sighing.

"That better not have been for any silliness you used to do Susannah!" My mom was eyeing me. "If there is anything about fights, or god forbid-"

"No, Mom." I sighed, "Just late to class." My mom look relived,

"Good. Put your troublemaking past behind you." I snorted, my troublemaking past was still with me, I was just more careful about it, and my 'gift' now that I was older (and possibly wiser? Debatable.)

"Suze wasn't a trouble maker!" Doc said, his eyes big. I laughed, scuffing his red hair,

"You should have seen me in New York." I laughed. Jake rolled his eyes playfully,

"So cool, Suze."

"Why, thank you Jake." I said, heading upstairs to my room. I looked into the mirror on bureau, touching at my hair, smiling. I felt good, better than I had in a while, and I really shouldn't have. Paul was going to be furious with me, and I had a new ghostly problem to deal with, but I felt good.

Suddenly I doubled over in pain, knocking everything off on my bureau with an accidental sweep of my hands. Brush, makeup, nail polish, pictures, went flying to the floor with a shatter. I gasped, my head snapping back up, looking at my reflection. My eyes were pure white. No color, no pupil, just white. I gasped in horror and I jammed my eyes closed.

… "_Ultimate power" a voice whispered in my head. "A god of infinite possibilities…" it said seductively. Suddenly I saw a blurry image of a glowing round object, it was illuminating, beautiful… a small white ball of light. I reached out for it, wanting it, __**needing**__ it. Then, I woke up… _

I gasped and fell to the floor, opening my eyes. I looked around dizzily; I was back in my room.

"What..?" I said, getting up unsteadily, looking into my mirror. My eyes were back to their normal green, but my face was pale.

What the _hell_ was going on?

* * *


	3. Smile like you have a secret

Thank you all for the reviews!! I keeps me writing! I have been so busy, but I try to write when I have spare time and remember to, haha, so tell me what you think of the story and such, it helps me along!

Here is another chapter of Visons.

hope you like it

Callie - Loves It -

* * *

"Some sort of vision you say?" Father Dominic said, pacing back and forth around the room. After dinner, I had head over to the Rectory to talk to Father Dom about what had happened to me, in my bedroom.

"My eyes…" I said with a little fear, "They were white. All white." I said. Father Dom looked up at me, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"I feel like I know what you are talking about." He said finally.

"Oh really? Does this happen to you often? Drink too much milk and your eyes turn white?" I said sarcastically.

"No Susannah." He tisked; turning around to his impressive library and rummaging through the shelves. "I feel like I've read about this somewhere…" he said absent mindedly.

"It… was so surreal." I said, sitting down in a chair, touching my forehead gently, "I saw… this ball of light. And I wanted it… and this voice was telling me something." I said; trying to think but the memory was slowly slipping away.

"Hmm." He said, looking over at me curiously. He stared for a few seconds,

"I'm not a circus freak!" I said defensively. "I already feel weird enough that I can see and talk to ghosts let alone I'm a shifter and can shift to the realm of the dead!" I said exasperated. "Now I'm having freaky visions or something?"

"At least you have Paul." Father Dom said with a quick smile. Oh god, Paul. I really needed to call and apologize.

"Yes, well." I said with a tired sigh.

"Is everything going all right with you two? You have been dating for a while now." He said, "I hope you are being… good." He said awkwardly.

"Oh, God!" I sputtered out. "What? No… No. Just stop, just… stop talking." I said squirming in the chair.

"I'm just being a good priest!" Father Dom said sighing.

"Just stop." I said with a small laugh. Father Dominic smiled,

"It is getting late Susannah, you should go home, and maybe do some school work? I'll look and see what I can find on the matter."

"School work? Sure." I said rolling my eyes. "Thanks, though." I said walking out, heading home.

The cool air was nice on me, the sky dark. I headed to the family car to drive home, but before I opened the door, I saw that a familiar ghost was staring back at me, in my reflection in the car side. I whirled around,

"Can you _please_ stop trying to scare me?" I demanded. She giggled,

"Opsie! Didn't work." She said, floating around.

"Look, I need to talk to you still." I said, dragging her back to solid ground, "Actually, I forgot to tell Father Dominic about you, here, let's go!" I grabbed her arm and whisked her away with me. She pulled back sharply,

"Where are we going?"

"To see my principle, a fellow mediator, and a priest." Her eyes lit up a little, but she stayed put.

"No." She said simply. I pulled her arm,

"Come on." I said annoyed, but she hissed and dematerialized quickly. I sighed; this ghost was so fickle for someone coming to me for help.

I drove home in silence mulling over the past days' happenings. The dirt road near my house was empty, the world outside was black. I looked up into my rear view mirror to see someone staring back at me, sitting in the back seat; his cold black eyes met mine. I screamed and hit the brakes, swerving almost into a ditch. I looked back but no one was sitting there, it was just me in the car. My heart was almost jumping out of my body as I drove home, almost shaking. I got inside and head into my room, turning on my lights and sitting on my bed, breathing deeply.

"Whatcha doing?"

I screamed and fell off my bed, crashing to the floor.

"Suze?" I distant voice called from downstairs.

"I'm okay!" I yelled back. I glared up at my new ghostly friend in annoyance.

"What?" I demanded.

"Well, _Susie_. You seem a little jumpy." she said giggling, "I thought we could talk now." I got up and sighed,

"Don't call me that." I said, sitting back on my bed. "Would you like to tell me _your _name?" I asked.

"Celeste." She said smiling sadly. "It's so sad that I died. I could have been so great. Done so much." She said. I smiled sadly with her,

"Yeah… it sucks." I said shrugging. I wasn't that great at consoling anyone.

"Yes." She said, wiping at a loose tear violently. "Anyways. The man who killed me was a rich historian. Only happened about a month ago." She said. "No one of course knows that he did it. He made it look like I killed myself by jumping off a bridge." She sighed.

"Do you know his name?" I asked.

"Carter. Carter Diggings."

"I know him. Well, of him." I said thinking, "He has a mansion on top of a cliff overlooking the sea. His house is famous for all the historical crap he has in there." I said.

"Yes." She sniffled, "And he stole my family's prized possession. I bet it was worth millions and he just wanted to sell it. I think that was it. And he stole it from us, but we had no proof, it was tearing my family apart. Then… I snuck into his house to steal it back, to help my family… and… he caught me." She said wailing.

"It's… okay." I said patting her back awkwardly. "Look, I'm not going to let him get away with this." I said.

"No!" She said, looking at my wildly, "He is very dangerous! You can't talk to him! I just… I just need you to get it back. Steal it from him and return it to me. I think… I think that will finally let me rest." She said.

"Maybe…" I said thoughtfully. "But, that sounds sort of difficult. Do you want me to talk to your family? Maybe that will help you?"

"No." She said, "They moved away two weeks after I died. There is no point."

"I'm not sure Celeste," I said uncertainly,

"Just get it back and we can get proof and say he stole it, maybe even get enough proof to prove that he killed me! But he is a dangerous man Suze, please don't go near him!" she pleaded.

"Okay." I half-heartily agreed.

"Good!" she said smiling.

"What is it that he stole?" I asked.

"This." She said, and pulled out a picture, of what looked like a photocopy of another picture. It was a small, round sphere. White and glowing with light. I gasped,

"That… that ball…" I said. She looked at me curiously,

"What?" she demanded.

"Nothing." I said, shaking my head.

"Well, it's not a _ball_. It's a fortune teller's orb. And it was my families from generation to generation. It's probably worth a lot of money and he stole it, and I want it back." She said defiantly.

"Why don't you just get it?" I asked. She glared,

"I can't." she said. I sighed,

"Fine… I'll do it."

--

"Absolutely not!" Father Dominic said, standing out of his chair. We were in his office, early the next day.

"Oh, come on – it won't be that difficult a job to pull off!" I said in defense.

"Susannah, you know I don't particularly agree with your… methods and 'jobs' you pull for these ghosts. And this I simply forbid! Sneaking into someone house and stealing? Especially someone quite prized in the community."

"No he isn't. He never leaves the house, no one talks to him… hello? Creep. The only _prized_ thing is his collection of old history stuff."

"In regardless, he could be a murderer! I can't let you sneak into his clutches!"

"You sound like a Scooby Doo episode." I said rolling my eyes, "Look, let me handle this Father D."

"Susannah." Father Dominic said in a warning tone.

"Look, Celeste needs my help!" I said.

"This isn't the way to go about it." Father Dominic sighed. We stared hard at each other,

"I'm not agreeing to anything." I said stubbornly.

"I didn't expect you to." He said wearily. I smiled,

"Good! We're on the same page then. I should go before you change your mind!" I said, getting up quickly.

"C-change… Change my mind!? I never did, young girl!" He said stammering, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm glad we had this talk!" I said hurriedly, giving him a quick smile.

"Susannah! We still have much to talk about!" he said, but I was already walking about the door,

"Don't worry about it Father D!" I said leaving. The old man sighed,

"Bless her soul." He said with a shake of his head.

I walked into the bathroom; the bell was going to ring soon to let everyone out of class. I looked at my reflection, my hair was looking great, I had a new jean skirt on, and I was ready for the day. Not quite. Suddenly someone appeared out of thin air, behind me, looking at me in the mirror. He had the same dark eyes as last night, in the car. I whirled around, but he was gone. I stood, my legs slightly shaking. Whatever was going on, it was scaring me. Suddenly I doubled over in pain, just like the day before. I quickly glanced in the mirror and my eyes had gone white again and my sight was clouded over by something else,

… … "_Stop being weak!" a voice said. Everything was blurry, but I could make out two figures standing in darkness. _

"_Weak? Are you kidding me?" a voice answered back angrily._

"_You let your emotions rule you. That is what makes you weak." The first voice said._

"_You know nothing of my strength." The second replied violently. _

"_Don't try to threaten me; it will not work to your goal." The first replied lazily. _

"_We need her. That's all." The second said, pausing to think. _

"_Don't worry so much. It will all work out in the end." The first said._

"_I never worry." The second replied and the two disappeared, as did the darkness… …_

I gasped for air, clutching onto the bathroom sink. What were these things? I splashed water on my face and breathed in deeply. I hoped Father Dominic would find some answers soon. The bell went and I walked out, students filling out of class and mulling around their lockers and the courtyard.

"You alright, Susannah?" Jesse said, looking at me worriedly.

"Huh?" I asked, dazed.

"You look a little pale. You see a ghost?" he joked. I looked at him nervously,

"Ha. No, Jesse… I'm fine." I said.

"Why don't we sit down?" he asked, I agreed and made my way over to one of the picnic benches. I looked around, my eyes stopping on Paul, standing with some friends. His eyes met mine and he looked angry. He faced back to his friends a moment later, smiling, they walked off. I sighed; I guess I should have called him.

"What have you been doing lately?" Jesse asked. I turned to meet his handsome face,

"Nothing much." I said; if having crazy visions and planning to sneak into a murder's house, meant nothing.

"Well, let's do something tonight." He said. I looked up at him, blushing.

"What?" I asked.

"Dinner? See a movie? I think Adam wanted to see the new comedy that's out." He said. Oh. Jesse, me, _Adam and Ceecee_. Right. Not a date situation.

"Um, yeah." I said distractedly.

Distracted because someone was standing ten feet away, staring. It was the same figure I had seen in the bathroom, and in the car. The first thing I noticed, other than his dark stare, was his stature.

He was probably as tall as Jesse or Paul, maybe taller. He was more muscled, very defined, I could tell by his loose black shirt, unbuttoned on his chest. He wore black jeans, his face slightly tan, a smirk on his lips. His hair was black as a raven, long and silky looking, to his shoulders. He looked older then me, in his late 20's maybe. I tried to keep talking to Jesse, but it was very unnerving with this man so close.

He smiled, walking towards me slowly. A chill ran up my spine, and I squirmed a bit in my seat, my face panicked.

"What is it _querida_?" Jesse asked. I looked at him, trying to calm myself,

"N-nothing." I said with a quick smile, pretending to look for something in my purse. The man sat down on top of the bench, looking at me still. I had to pretend I couldn't see him. On closer inspection, I could already tell he was dead.

Jesse's body stiffened noticeably. "I should get to class; I don't want to be late." He said suddenly.

"I have spare." I said, careful not to make eye contact with this man. "Bye." I said, slightly scared that Jesse was leaving me alone, but he didn't know that.

"Talk to you later Susannah." He said, his face one of confusion as he left.

I sighed, turning to the man once everyone had gone off to class.

"What?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. He smiled; his white teeth looked pointy, sharp like a wolf, or a snake.

"Good morning, Suze." He said. His voice was deep yet light, scratchy but melodic. He seemed to have a slight French accent even.

"It was good until you popped up behind me in the bathroom. Don't you know its girls only in there?" I said, trying not to let him intimidate me. But he was; he was a man. A well built machine that could hurt me and no one would know. He was also quite close to me,

"Sorry about that, I'm never quite sure where you'll be when I come." He said, a handsome smile spread on his face, his hand sweeping back his hair. A look of terror must have crossed my face,

"I have not been in your room." He said with a small laugh, "Don't worry."

"What are you doing then?" I asked.

"Just wondering about you. You are a mediator, you help the dead, yes?" he asked.

"Yes. Suze Simon, resident mediator." I said with a smile.

"Shifter." He said, with a cocky smile back at me.

"Yes." I said cautiously. "How did you know that?"

"Any shifter can recognize another." He said.

"Y-you?" I asked in shock.

"Yes, me." He said in amusement. "I still am, just because I'm dead does not mean I have lost my powers." He said, looking at his outstretched hand with a smile.

"And you are…?" I asked.

"Vincent." He said.

"Right, Vincent." I said slowly, "Um, do you need my help with anything?"

A gleam passed in his eyes,

"I'm fine the way I am right now, thank you." He answered. "I think I'll stick around for a bit."

"Okay." I said confused. "Um… well. I could introduce you to some other mediators around here to talk to?" I said, not really know what to do.

"Your boyfriend? The Spanish guy? I don't think we'd get along too well. He might think I will steal you away." He said with a laugh. I blushed horribly,

"N-no. He isn't my boyfriend." I said, "And he isn't a mediator. He can't see you." I said.

"He can't see me because I did not want him to see me. I am good with the craft, I told you." Vincent said.

"He can't see you because he can't…" I said, "He would have told me. I mean… he saw me with-" I said thinking. If he could see the dead he would have seen me with Celeste and said something. "You're wrong." I said.

"I am not." Vincent replied, narrowing his eyes. "Do not mistake me for some foolish ghost who is stuck between both worlds." He said; venom in his voice. I looked at him nervously, confused. He smiled, disappearing before me.

--

"I'm sorry!" I said, reaching for Paul's hand. He shook it away,

"You didn't meet up with me, and then you don't even bother to call?" he asked.

"I had a lot of things going on!" I said defensively. "You do it all the time." I added spitefully. Paul glared, his ice blue eyes contrasting with his tan skin.

"You seemed to have enough time to talk to Jesse." He said. I rolled my eyes,

"Can we not get jealous over Jesse? He is my friend." I said. Paul snorted but said nothing.

"I am sorry though, Paul. I wouldn't purposely forget you, you know that." I said.

"Suze, I'm not someone to be 'forgotten'." He drawled.

"Okay. I'm sorry." I said, crossing my arms. Paul relaxed, touching my face with his warm hands.

"Fine." He said, "I'll forget about _that_. Just don't do it again." He said, touching my dark hair. He kissed me lightly on the nose. I giggled,

"Agreed." I said. We kissed lightly at first, and then deepened it. I sighed into his mouth,

"I miss you. I don't see you anymore." I said a little sadly. Paul looked a little worried,

"I know, but don't worry. That will all change soon, okay?" He said.

"Okay." I said, and we walked together to the next class.

"So, when I was supposed to meet you, I ran into a new ghost instead." I said.

"Oh?" Paul answered. "Another charity case for Simon?" he said chuckling. I whacked him in the shoulder,

"No! Well, yes. Her name is Celeste, she was murdered by Carter Diggings. You know about him right? Apparently to put her to rest I need to go into this guy's house and steal something back that he originally stolen from her family." I said sighing.

"Why can't these things ever be simple." He said looking thoughtful. "I'll come with you." He said after a pause.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Of course. I'm not letting you go alone." He answered, I smiled. "Maybe if you let me teach you some shifter things… you will be better prepared." He said. I sighed, the shifter stuff was cool, and extremely interesting… but it was also scary. Having these… _powers_, was hard to handle. I didn't know much about them except that all I knew was how to travel to the Shadowland and back.

"Maybe…" I said. I stopped talking. I knew I should have told him about Vincent, or the weird visions, but I didn't want to talk any further about shifting. Paul rolled his eyes but kissed my cheek, "Let's not be late for class."

- - -

I got in my car, heading for Paul's house late that afternoon. I double-taked the seat beside me, once empty, now sat Vincent.

"Jeeze…" I said, my heart hammering in my chest. "Why do you keep feeling the need to scare me?" I said.

"It's fun." He answered with a smile.

"Do you need me for something? I'm kind of busy." I said.

"Not in particular. Where are you going?" he asked.

"My boyfriend's house. He's _not_ the Spanish one." I pressed.

"Who is he?" he asked.

"Paul Slater. He is a shifter, like me, uh… _us_ I mean." Vincent's smile faded.

"Interesting." He said slowly. I looked at him curiously,

"Yeah. There is also another mediator… a priest, Father Dominic, he is the principle of my school and-" but Vincent cut me off,

"I should be going darling, but I'll visit again sometime, maybe tomorrow." He said with a quick smile, and disappeared. I sighed in annoyance and continued my drive to Paul's.

"There is _so_ much I could teach you! I mean, we don't have infinite possibilities or anything, but we have these… powers. Extraordinary powers above those than a mediator who just can merely see and speak to the dead." Paul said with an excited smile.

"I know." I said, flopping onto his bed.

"Suze you know so little!" he said with a sigh, "There is a lot of cool stuff!" he said, flopping onto the bed beside me.

"It's just… overwhelming sometimes. Sometimes I feel like, being a mediator is enough you know?" I said, looking into his eyes.

"No… I feel like it's **not** enough. Any of this." He said a little darkly.

"Power hungry." I said, biting his nose a little, playfully. He smiled his dazzling smile,

"If you don't want to be taught then we could do other things." He said, his hands going up my sides, tickling me.

"Ha ha! Paul stop!" I breathed, giggling madly. We laughed, wrestling a bit, falling back onto his bed in a tired heap. We stared at each other, smiles on our faces. I looked at the handsome face in front of me, the golden boy, reminded of the good times, why I had been with him. Why I am with him now.

My cell phone rang. I sighed in annoyance, I just wanted to lay with him forever. I picked up my phone,

"Hello?"

"Hello, Susannah?" Jesse's voice said sweetly into the phone.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, looking over at Paul who was now sitting on the edge of the bed, looking curious.

"I was wondering about what I said earlier to you today. If you wanted to go out tonight with Adam, Ceecee and I?" I put a hand to my head,

"Oh my god, I totally forgot! I'm so sorry Jesse." I said. Paul rolled his eyes.

"That's fine." He said, "Did you still want to go?"

"I'm over at Paul's right now. Sorry, we are kind of busy, we made plans." I said, hoping Jesse wouldn't be mad.

"No problem," he answered, "Another time then!" he said. I smiled,

"Of course. See you." I said hanging up. Paul sighed,

"De Silva calls you now?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, sitting beside him, "He is a good guy, Paul. You guys could be really good friends if you tried." Paul snorted and looked at me skeptically.

"Uh, no." he said with a laugh. I rolled my eyes,

"Whatever."

"What did the cowboy have to say?" he asked with a smirk.

"Cowboy?" I said, my eyebrows rose.

"He sort of looks like one. Spanish… some of the things he wears. He is kind of old fashioned."

"I guess." I said with a laugh. "He just wanted to hangout." I said.

"Oh, sure. Just hangout. And do what? Shovel the hay in the barn?" Paul said sarcastically.

"Stop being jealous, just because there is a new boy for Kelly and her crew to oogle at, you're acting like a jerk." I said in a playful tone.

"As long as I have you." He said fluffing my hair, and kissing my forehead.

"Yuck." I said, jokingly.

"Whatever. Forget de Stupid." He said.

"Witty."

"We need to plan tonight's heist."


	4. Authors Note

I have not written this story in a couple of years. I have re found my passion for writing and will continue this story one day. I am currently re-editing another story I had been working on years ago, and in the process of writing new chapters.

Once I am finished that, or feel like I have enough time for both, this story will continue. Sorry for the wait.

xx


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